Small desktop PCs can often be a compromised experience compared to full-size desktops, but they don’t have to be. MSI just revealed its new AI Edge desktop, and the Ryzen Max+ chipset under the hood should deliver excellent performance.
The MSI AI Edge is a new compact desktop PC, revealed for the first time at CES 2026. It’s powered by AMD’s updated Ryzen AI Max+ 300 series of processors, with the highest-end model using the Ryzen AI Max+ 395. Much like Apple Silicon chips, the 96GB of memory is shared across RAM and VRAM, depending on what is needed for the current workload. There’s also RDNA 3.5 graphics with 40 compute units, and a dedicated NPU for up to 50 TOPS of AI acceleration.
MSI said in a press release, “A distinct advantage of the AI Edge is its memory configuration, which effectively removes VRAM bottlenecks. The system utilizes up to 128GB of LPDDR5X 8000 on-board Unified Memory, designed for low-latency speed. Critically, up to 96GB of this high-speed memory can be dynamically and exclusively allocated to the GPU.”
Earlier versions of those Ryzen AI Max already deliver great performance in the Framework Desktop, HP Z2 Mini, and other computers. That should mean the MSI AI Edge will be great for local machine learning and generative AI, as well as 3D rendering, some gaming, and other tasks that benefit from more GPU power and lots of VRAM.
MSI didn’t provide exact physical dimensions for the MSI AI Edge, except that it has a 4-liter internal volume, with a built-in power supply. For context, the Framework Desktop is 4.5 liters. That’s not quite as small as some other small PCs, but most of those are using lower-power integrated graphics—the GPU in this PC is more comparable to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060. There’s also MSI’s “Glacier Armor thermal solution” to keep everything cool at high workloads.
The announcement also highlighted an important difference between this and a Mac Mini or Mac Studio—the ability to run any traditional PC operating system. The latest Mac desktops with Apple Silicon chips are stuck with macOS (Asahi Linux is only up to M2 chips so far), but this is a standard 64-bit x86 PC, so you can safely install Windows or desktop Linux.
Even though existing local AI apps like LM Studio or Ollama would work well, MSI is also working on its own front-end software for productivity work. The announcement said, ” This multimodal software leverages the device’s on-premises computing resources. It features powerful capabilities for essential productivity tasks, such as generating meeting notes and creating mind maps, all while maximizing data privacy. Additionally, the software integrates advanced Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, enabling users to securely process and query local datasets for highly contextual and data-specific output.”
MSI did not provide an exact release date or price tag for the AI Edge. You’ll have to keep an eye on MSI’s online store and other retailers if you want to buy one.
Source: MSI
